Student Stories

Kristian Nenchev

"I enjoyed my management internship at Marriott's Middle East and Africa Headquarters situated in Dubai as a Revenue Management and Sales intern under the guidance of Marriott's Area Vice President of Revenue Management for MEA."

"I enjoyed my management internship at Marriott's Middle East and Africa Headquarters situated in Dubai as a Revenue Management and Sales intern under the guidance of Marriott's Area Vice President of Revenue Management for MEA. There, we teamed up with Corporate HQ to design Marriott's next revenue management training program that started as a small improvement initiative but because of all the support and guidance, it translated into a global project that was later implemented worldwide.

The internship itself was unconventional and tough. There were no instructions or SOPs, hours were long and stakes were high as I directly cooperated with area directors, vice presidents, and Cxx level executives.

However, once finished, I was offered a full time position to relocate to the USA and work at Marriott's corporate headquarters as a Revenue Manager for 12 hotels. To my joy, the training I went through for my RM position was the training program I had helped build as an intern in Dubai.

Spending 6 months on another continent does not get any better. Dubai, while luxurious and sometimes artificial, has to offer a lifestyle one can only dream about. Combining that with the fact that there is zero crime and housing is always provided by your employer, the emirate is a prime internship destination. Not to mention that I was sent (and paid for by Marriott) to several conferences including a one week corporate training in Cairo, Egypt, as well as the global Sales and Marketing conference at the tallest hotel in the world - the JW Marquis, Dubai.

The best part is that I did not get that internship because I knew someone on the inside; nor had I used an agency to buy my way in. It was the placement office that posted the offer and made it happen. They even took the time to visit the office in person."